Bouncy House IPA

September 16, 2014

Reviewers: Lisa Morrison

Bouncy House IPA

Smuttynose Brewing Co.

Hampton, NH

Bouncy House IPA is the first new year-round beer brewed at Smuttynose’s new brewery at Towle Farm in Hampton, NH. Brewed with Magnum, Calypso and Saphir hops. Labels feature Smuttynose staff members or friends of the brewery.

When I received my package of Bouncy House with five different labels of people jumping around in a bouncy house, everybody who saw them asked if they were different beers. They’re not. Label questions settled, this golden-hued beer starts with juicy, fruity hop notes and a touch of graininess in the aroma. A light body barely constrains the bold grapefruit and lemony citrus blast that attacks your palate. Gobs of citrus rind and pithy bitterness take center stage in this assertive IPA, lingering on the palate long after the sip has concluded.- Lisa Morrison

The amusingly festive label calls this an “all-occasion American Ale.” … Is this a “session IPA”? The beer is a hazy orange-gold, the aroma is grassy and dank, with some fresh citrus shining through. The British use the wonderful word “gobsmacked” to express eyebrow-raising surprise, and that’s what the palate does here. A focused beam of sharp bitterness shatters all before it; the malt cowers in a corner, vanquished. The beer is pretty light, so if all your “occasions” call for hop grenades, this may do well by you. It is not for the alpha-timid, that’s for sure.- Garrett Oliver

Lisa MorrisonLisa Morrison, aka the Beer Goddess, talks beer every day at her beer store and taproom, Belmont Station, and on a weekly radio show in her hometown of Portland, OR.

Garrett OliverGarrett Oliver is the brewmaster of The Brooklyn Brewery, the Editor-in-Chief of The Oxford Companion to Beer, the author of The Brewmaster’s Table, and the veteran host of more than 900 beer dinners in 15 countries.